Cristina Odone is a journalist, novelist and broadcaster specialising in the relationship between society, families and faith. She is the director of communications for the Legatum institute and is a former editor of the Catholic Herald and deputy editor of the New Statesman. She is married and lives in west London with her husband, two stepsons and a daughter. Her new ebook No God Zone is now available on Kindle.

Doctors' attitude to miscarriage is casual and misogynist

If men bore babies it would be different. They would demand that the medical profession take pregnancy, abortion and miscarriage seriously. They would be clamouring for the best pre-abortion counselling (which right now, despite Nadine Dorries MP's efforts, remains the monopoly of abortion-providers) and post-miscarriage counselling (none available on the NHS). They'd want serious studies to look into the risks of home births that are so popular with midwives (in the Netherlands, where they are routine, the incidence of complications at birth is much higher than elsewhere in Europe).

But having babies is woman's work. We don't make a fuss when we're pregnant: we are so damn grateful to be able to conceive at all, after all the scare stories about infertility and the working woman. As an "elderly primigravida" (talk about misogynist terms!) of 42 I was blessed because I had three incredible professionals helping me through the roller coaster of pregnancy. One was Prof Tom Bourne – who now has come out with an alarming study (based on 1060 women) which spells out what we women had long suspected: medical workers are too casual with our pregnancy. They're too quick to call "miscarriage" when it isn't; and they're too quick to promote an abortion when one isn't necessary. As the Telegraph reveals today

Medical workers make judgments based on measurements of the embryo or its gestational sac, as seen on an ultrasound scan, which could be inaccurate… As a result, as many as 400 viable pregnancies could be wrongly classified as miscarriages every year, according to researchers.

Experts such as Prof Bourne are recommending a "watch and wait" approach – rather than telling terrified mums-to-be that they've just lost their longed-for baby and, in order not to suffer any infection or other gyneacological troubles that might affect their chances of conception, should have an abortion.

About half a million women suffer miscarriages in Britain every year; most take place in the first 12 weeks of pregnancy before routine NHS ultrasound scans take place. When a pregnant woman goes to hospital, complaining of bleeding or cramps, doctors use ultrasound images to check if the baby is still there. If the gestational sac is empty or measures less than 20mm doctors conclude that the would-be mother has suffered a miscarriage. But Prof Bourne argues that these calculations are too easy to get wrong; with the result that about 400 women may be ending healthy pregnancies.

It's a tragedy, but an avoidable one – if the medical professionals could take women more seriously.